Exercise Talisman Saber is an Australian Defence Force (ADF) and United States (US) Armed Forces combined military training series which incorporates land-based, air and maritime activities. The exercises are conducted every second year. Talisman Saber 2017 (TS17) will be the seventh time the Exercise has been conducted and will involve approximately 30,000 Australian and US participants. Elements of New Zealand, Canadian and Japanese armed forces may also participate.
The Talisman Sabre series of exercises is of critical importance to maintaining and enhancing ADF combat training, capability and readiness. The exercises maximise training benefits within a Combined Task Force setting and expose participants to a wide spectrum of military capabilities and training experiences. They focus on developing interoperability between forces, achieving critical proficiency qualifications and enabling high-end warfighting field training activities to take place under a fictional scenario.
TS17 participants will be spread throughout a range of training environments in Australia with ships’ crew forming at least half of the participants. Based on fictional scenarios, TS17 is likely to incorporate force preparation activities, naval engagements, amphibious landings, parachuting, land force manoeuvre, urban operations, air operations and the coordinated firing of live ammunition and explosive ordnance from small arms, artillery, naval vessels and aircraft. TS17 will take place during June and July 2017 at Defence training areas in the Northern Territory and Queensland, and on public and private land at Stanage Bay, Upstart Bay and Kings Beach near Bowen in Queensland.
